This was quite an interesting twist to the Pern universe. Here we follow the stories of the first colonists of Pern from first landing till almost a decade later when they leave the Southern Continent for the safer Northern Continent and settle in Fort Hold.Although the story is different to what I was used to, Anne McCaffrey's style had shown through regardless. I felt comfort in seeing that all the protagonists are flawed and dislikeable in some way. Moreover, when things starts to look bad it becomes a whole lot worse before the ending sweeps in with an orchestra, banners, and all manners of proud and happy feelings (all Star Wars-like). In addition to Anne McCaffrey's story-telling style I was not surprised to see quite a bit of gender typing, especially towards the end. But what I did not see coming was the slight slut-shaming I spotted in the beginning. I know that the author always brings the issue of gender equality forward in her books, but the latter was quite surprising and a bit unsettling to me.I also have to mention that the characters’ cussing was smartly used; it was not overly used nor just thrown in there. Some situations are just so crappy that there is no other way to describe it but with F-bombs. It made it feel real to me and that these people were scared and stressed.But I genuinely liked this twist; it was interesting to see how everyone's lives progressed over the course of the book. But my heart stuck on Salah Telgar and the relationship between Sorka and Sean. The other characters have moments in the book where they shine, but these three always kept my interest. And their stories certainly all left a lasting impression on me. I also really enjoyed seeing how all the lore and history you learn of in the previous books have been tied in together here. Moreover, it was fun to see how all the fantastical events were given a 'scientific' explanation, and how this advanced society and their technology was explained. A lot of back-story was given here, which I enjoyed.The audiobook was enjoyable to listen to, the narrator did do a decent job most of the time and even managed the female characters quite well. But every time he attempted to do an 'exotic' accent or an emotional scene I wanted to burst out laughing. It just came off sounding campy and stereotypical to me. I may be alone in this but the narrator is the reason this book lost a star for me. On the positive side though, he did manage to carry the pacing well and if there were any faults in the writing I did not notice it. In addition to the narrator there was also one or two plot points I felt were not properly covered and would have liked an explanation or just better writing to make it feel less like a plot hole.Sorka and Sean’s story line is very interesting to me, their relationship and partnership was absolutely lovely to read (naturally Anne McCaffrey would pay homage to her Irish roots with them), I hope there is a book that follows their story further…
What do You think about Dragonsdawn (1988)?
This is a re-read -- I burned my way through all the Dragonriders books in high school and absolutely loved them, regardless of the fact that McCaffrey is (should I say was? I was really sad when she died) only fair-to-middling at crafting prose. She is a great world-builder though, and I loved this book especially because (spoiler alert) of the reveal that the Pern books are science fiction and not high fantasy (which you could easily be forgiven for believing after the vaguely medieval feel of
—Hallie
My Pern Re-read continues!Dragonsdawn is one of the most sci-fi of all the Pern novels, because it's cohesive and gives a strong background for why Pern was settled and lacks the fantasy tinge present in The Dragonriders of Pern and The Harper Hall of Pern. It creates a strong cast of character and vivid early colonial life, and I like the way most of them weave through each other. I adore Sean Connell/Sorka Hanrahan as a couple, and it was enjoyable watching the dragons' creation. There are two notable flaws: one, McCaffrey wasn't edited (or at least not edited well), and it's very inconsistent with earlier novels. McCaffrey gives some things a hand wave, but for someone who likes consistency, it's jarring. It didn't bother me that much as a teenager, but it bothers me a lot now.Secondly, I read the original 1988 US print run copy, and there are some really, really bad errors. This is a book that makes me wonder if Anne McCaffrey had some kind of no-edit contract, because there's no sign of editing. It's really noticeable right at the beginning when Bendon is speaking with Ezra Keroon and Jim Tillek. Jim Tilleck's name keeps changing (multiple times he's called "Jim Keroon" so I was confused about if they were relatives or if "Jim Keroon" was actually Ezra). This is just one example, but there are flaws like this consistently through the book, and it makes the writing confusing at points. I know there's a lot of complaints at the E-book editions containing typos, but the print editions of most of the Pern books have editing issues, too.If this had a more thorough editor, it could've been a five star book.
—Aishuu
This is the single most important book in my entire personal library because this is the one that introduced me to Anne McCaffrey's wondrous world of Pern. When I had first picked up this book, it was near the top of a stack of books I had sitting beside my bed. The stack started at books I thought I would find less interesting and proceeded downward to those I thought would be more to my new-to-the-fantasy-genre taste. I could not have been more wrong.Treasured perhaps above any of my books is 'Dragonsdawn'. It is in this book that I found a certain contentment with science fiction, though it was never a genre I was particularly interested in, while it filled my vast appetite for all things dragon. Since I'm one of those people that constantly has to figure out how or why things have come to be, especially when discussing fantastical worlds and creatures, watching the slow evolution of Pern's dragons before ever reading any of the other Dragonriders of Pern novels was probably the best way to introduce me to this world. And oh how I've come to love it since!
—Leah Alvord
